The Good: This is a slim, sexy candybar-style world phone with a VGA camera, Bluetooth and a host of user-customizable options. The phone supports SMS and multimedia messaging, as well as many of the popular instant messaging clients. It has an above average talk time and a standby time of eight days.
The Bad: Despite being a mid-tier phone, the VGA camera disappoints with blurry images and video clips are restricted in length by the tinny 10MBs of internal memory. There is no flash-card support as in other handsets in the series, nor any iTunes support or a dedicated audio player. The low quality screen makes colors seem washed out and videos choppy. Web browsing speeds are quite slow. Note that some carriers have disabled features of the phone such as the well-touted Push-to-Talk technology.
The Bottom Line: This is a fairly average mid-range handset which most users will be happy with, but phone enthusiasts will be disappointed by the low quality screen, camera and the lack of a dedicated audio player and memory expandability.
The Good: This is a well-featured flip-style world phone with multimedia messaging features, instant messaging clients for the most popular networks and a wide array of polyphonic ring tones.
The Bad: This phone is aimed at the business market, and as such does not include a camera. The inclusion of voice dialling is a nice touch; however this only works through a headset or car kit. The speakerphone only works at short range making it difficult for callers to hear when there is excessive background noise. The low 10MB of shared internal memory provides little room for extensive user customization. The unit’s SAR value of 1.6w/kg, being the highest allowed under US regulations may worry more health-orientated users.
The Bottom Line: This is a mid-range phone with impressive talk and standby times. The phone serves business users well, however ‘leisure’ users or those wishing a more high-spec device may wish to look elsewhere.
The Good: This is a well featured phone incorporating a 2 mega pixel camera with flash and portrait mirror, music player, two sets of speakers and an integrated GPS. Navigation controls are cramped but easy to use; and both the external and internal displays are clear and crisp.
The Bad: Neither the camera nor music player is anything exceptional. Pictures are blurred and grainy, with a noticeable lag time when changing between camera settings. Music sounds tinny, with distortion apparent at higher volumes.
The Bottom Line: This is a well rounded phone, which, whilst not likely to win any awards, nevertheless has a number of useful features for both the business and leisure user. The dedicated button to send calls to voicemail and stereo speakers are a nice touch. However, the mediocre camera and music player is a bit of a let down. All in all, this is a good buy for the average user; however there are models on the market with a bit more style and panache.
The Good: The ultra-thin and light Motorola L2 slips easily into a coat or trouser pocket and the quad-band coverage makes it the globetrotters dream. Keep in touch with the phone’s strong messaging features and remain in reach with an impressive 14 day standby time.
The Bad: No memory expansion slot or support for corporate POP/IMAP email. Performance is sluggish at best, the display looks washed out. No 3G or EDGE support. Users with larger fingers will find it hard to use the keypad, and with only 10MB of RAM, you’ll be cramped for space. Unlike similar phones in the Motorola lineup, the L2 doesn’t include camera.
The Bottom Line: While this phone won’t turn any heads, it’s a good basic phone with a few strong points for frequent travelers. However, for a business-oriented phone, it’s surprisingly lacking some important features, like the ability to synchronize email and contacts with a remote server.
